Tess laughed. “It’s my personal policy to share as little information as I can when people are new to it. It’s fun to imagine the surprise when the game does it’s thing.”
“You get a kick out of a game that fucks with people’s bodies?” Beth argued.
“It sounds bad when you put it like that...” Tess frowned. “No ... I just think it’s more exciting for people to find out on their own.”
“Plus, I’m not sure I’d make very many sales if I told people exactly what it could do before they bought it.”
Jeff felt a little betrayed, but understood the logic. Given the nature of the product, he had no doubt they wouldn’t sell well if people knew the truth. Then again, some folks might love the opportunity to change at random. He shrugged it off and kept his pace next to Beth.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t as quick to dismiss the explanation. “That’s awful! How can you sell something so dangerous without at least informing people?”
Aggravated breaths made her skirt flutter with each word.
“It’s not dangerous at all... Didn’t you read the instructions?” Tess defended. “It’s not my fault you all managed to break it.”
Her last comment stung and Beth decided to drop it. After all, it was her fault they were there. If she hadn’t broken the game, they may have hit seven tokens by now. Still, she had a pretty low opinion of this girl. Tess wasn’t taking any of this seriously and, much to Beth’s dismay, she was their only chance to undo the changes. There wasn’t much any of them could do except trust this stranger. Besides, the game had changed her as well. So even she should have a vested interest in meeting with her aunt, the ‘magic specialist’.
As they left the mall, Tess asked if they could stop by her car...
“Of course...” Frank replied. “Aren’t we going to follow you?”
“No ... That’s a nice thought, but we’ll have to be in the same car...” Tess explained. “Since I’m a player now, I can’t move out of the game’s limited area. But if it’s alright with you all, I’d like to make sure I don’t get ticketed or towed if I leave my car here overnight.”
They were all feeling a little impatient, but followed her across the pavement. She stopped next to a small pink coup and slipped an ornate wooden stick from her back pocket. It seemed impossible as the foot long stick came free of a pocket that couldn’t have been more than a few inches deep. She waved the stick and murmured something in a foreign language. The group just stared, half expecting her car to drive away or disappear. Instead, it just became gradually more difficult to focus on. It was definitely there, but somehow easy to forget. Before long, they couldn’t help wondering why they were standing so far from Frank’s SUV.
“Alright, that should keep the ticket Nazi’s away.” Tess smiled. “Lead the way fellow players.”
Frank, still feeling a touch confused, turned and lead them back towards his SUV...